Counterbalancing device.



No. 828,875. PATENTED AUG. 21, 1906.

- 13. P. BULLARD, JE-

'GOUNTERBALANGING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 28. 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

UNITED STATES PATENT ornron.

EDWARD P. BULLARD, JR, OF BRIDGEPORT. CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THEBULLARD MACHINE TOOL COMPANY, OF BRIDGEPORT, CON- NECTICUT, ACORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

COUNTE'RBALANCING DEVICE- Specification-of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 21, 1906.

Application filed November 28, 1905. Serial No. 289.502.

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWARD P. BULLARD, Jr., a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Bridgeport, in the county of Fairfield andState of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Counterbalancing Devices, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in adjustablecounterbalancing devices for use inconnection with machinery of variouskinds, and especially -boringmills, lathes, and planers.

In machinery of this character numerous devices have been used tocounterbalance the weight of the head, rail, and other parts of themachine to insure ease of operation and adjustment.v The more commonconstructions of the above counterbalance devices include a weight andchain, the latter being carried up and over rollers of suitable arms.This form of counterbalance, which, as before stated, is largely used,is in many in stances undesirable, owing not only to its obj ectionableappearance, but also to the great amount of room required for the longarms employed, and, further, to the fact that they are more or lessdifficult to operate. I have therefore devised my present constructionwith a view of overcoming the above objections and producing acounterbalance which shall first be applicable to machines of variouskinds and makes, which shall be neat, compact, and easily operated, andwhich shall be particularly well adapted for use on boring-mills andvertical lathes.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Ihave illustrated my invention in connection with the head and cross railas used on b0ringmills and vertical turret-lathes; but in so doing I donot wish to be in any way confined in its use to either of such uses or,in fact, to use on any machine in particular, and I reserve the right toemploy it wherever adapted.

Upon the drawings similar characters of reference denote like orcorresponding parts throughout the several figures, and of which Figure1 shows a front elevation'of a crossrail, saddle, slide, and head suchas are used on boring-mills and with my novel counterbalancing deviceapplied thereto for counterbalancing the weight of the head. Fig. 2 isan end view of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an enlarged horizontal section taken online 3 3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a similar enlarged vertical cross-sectiontakenon line 4 4 of Fig. 1; and Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view of aportion of the sliderack and pinions to engage the same as seen fromarrow (1, Fig. 4,and showin in slightly an exaggerated manner the reative positions of said pinions with respect to the rack as inoperation.

Referring in detail to the characters of ref erence marked upon thedrawings, A indicates a portionof the frame and Ways of a machineas, forinstance, a boringmill-and B a cross-rail adjustably mounted thereon. I

C represents a saddle movable on the rail, and D a guide-plate swiveledto the saddle in the usual manner.

E represents a slide, and F the turrethead, mounted upon the lower endof the slide and adapted to carry the several tools to be used upon themachine. This slide and head in this particular instance represent theparts which my improved device is connected with and counterbalances.

The slide in question is provided with a vertically-disposed rack G,secured thereto in any preferred manner. This rack is provided with adouble engagement, one engagement being a pinion H, mounted upon a shortshaft I, bearing a bevel-gear J, which meshes with a corresponding gearK, keyed to the shaft L. Said shaft is mounted in an inner bracket M,secured to the saddle, and an outer bracket N, attached to the end ofthe rail. The outer end of this shaft L carries a pulley O, to which isattached a sheet-metal strap P,

connections it will be seen that an adjustable and operative connectionis made between the slide and the weight, whereby one counteracts theweight of the other in a very simple, compact, and novel manner.

The second connection to the rack is obviously for the purpose ofadjusting the same and its weight and likewise to hold the rack in suchadjusted positions as will again be referred to. This second connectioncomprises a pinion R, out on the hollow shaft S to engage the teeth ofthe rack in common with the teeth of the before-mentioned pinion H 9suspending a weight Q. From thisline of and obviously turns therewith.The said hollow shaft is mounted in a bushing T in the saddle and inturn forms a bearing for the short shaft I, before mentioned. The outerend of the shaft S carries a worm-gear U, which meshes with a worm V,mounted upon a shaft W, journaled in bearing X of the bracket M and inthe outer end Y of the rail. The outer end of the said shaft W may beshouldered, as shown, to receive a suitable crank, by means of Which itcan be rotated by an attendant to operate the worm, gear, pinion, rack,and slide to adjust the latter to the vertical position desired.

The normal tendency of the weight and slide are obviously to pull fromeach other. Consequently from the above construction it will be apparentthat the normal engagement between the rack G and the pinion H is alongthe upper edge of the teeth of the pinion and the lower edge of theteeth of the rack, as indicated in Fig. 5, while the engagement betweenthe pinion R and the said rack is vice versa, or between the under sideof the teeth of the pinion and the upper side of the teeth of the rack,thus serving to hold said rack tight and steady, preventing movementthereof as a result of any play or wear which may exist between theteeth of the rack and pinions, thus forming what I may term a lock forthe slide to insure such an engagement thereof as will hold it againsteither an up or down strain.

It will further be noted that my counterbalancing device is equallyeffective in its operation if the slide be in either a vertical orangularly-adjusted position, which latter is commonly required in amachine of this sort.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire'to secureby Letters Patent, is

1. A counterbalance comprising a rack, a pair of adjoining butindependent pinions connected with the rack, a weight and connectionstherefrom to one of said pinions, and a second and distinct connectionwith the other pinion for adjusting the rack as desired.

2. A counterbalance, comprising a straight rack, a pinion to engage thesame, a weight and connections therefrom to said pinion for supportingthe rack, a second pinion beside the first-named pinion and inengagement with said rack, and means for operating the latter pinion toadjust the rack and weight.

3. A counterbalance, comprising an attached rack, a pinion engaging thesame, a weight, connections intermediate said pinion and weight, asecond pinion engaging the rack adjacent to the first-named pinion andseparate means for operating the said latter pinion to adjust said rack.

4. A counterbalance comprising an attached rack, a inion to engage thesame, a shaft upon which said pinion is mounted, connections from saidshaft including a weight, a second inion to also engage the rack, andindepen ent connections with said second pinion for rotating the same toadjust said rack and weight. l

5. In a counterbalance the combination with an attached rack, of a pairof pinions rotating upon the same axis to engage the rack, connectionsfrom one of said pinions including a weight for supporting the rack, andconnections with the second pinion for adjusting the rack and weight.

6. In a counterbalance, the combination with a slide bearing a rack, ofapinion to engage the same, a weight and connections therefrom to one ofsaid pinions for supporting the rack and slide, a second pinion inengagement with the rack and means for operating the latter pinion toadjust the slide.

7. In a counterbalance, the combination I with a slide, of a shaft,connections from said shaft to said slide, a weight operativelyconnected with said shaft to support the head, and a second shaftconnected with the slide, and means for operating said second shaft toadjust the slide.

8. In a counterbalance, the combination with a slide bearing a rack, apinion to engage the same, ashaft for the pinion, a weight andconnections with said shaft for supporting said slide, and means foradjusting the slide and weight.

9. In a counterbalance, the combination with a rack, of a pinion toengage the same, a shaft, a second shaft connected with the firstnamedshaft, a weight connected with the second shaft for supporting the rack,and means for adjusting the said rack and weight.

10. In a counterbalance, the combination with a rack and slide, ofconnections with said rack for adjusting the same, a weight, shaft andgear connections intermediate said rack angl weight for supporting thesame and said sli e.

11. In a counterbalance, the combination with a slide and rack for thesame, of a shaft bearing a pinion to engage the rack, a second shaft,connections with the first-named shaft for adjusting the same and itsslide and rack, a second pinion to engage the rack and weight, andconnections therefrom to the pinion for supporting the rack and itsslide.

12. In a counterbalance, the combination with an attached rack, of ashaft bearing a pinion to engage the rack, a second shaft journaledwithin said first-named shaft, a pinion upon said second shaft to engagethe rack and weight, connections with one of said shafts for supportingthe rack, and means connected with the second shaft for adjusting saidrack to the position desired. 7

13. In a counterbalance, the combination with a slide-rack, ofseparately-operated pinions to engage the rack, a shaft for each of saidpinions, a worm and gear connections for operating one of said shafts ashaft to ad: ,1

just the worm-gear and slide, beveled gear connections from the weightto the other pinion for supporting the weight of the rack.

14. In a machine of the class described, the combination with across-rail, of a slide mounted thereon, horizontal shafts mounted insaid rail, a weight supported from one of said shafts, connections fromsaid weighted shaft to the slide for supporting the latter, separateconnections from said slide to the second shaft whereby the slide isadjusted by the rotation of said shaft.

15. In a machine of the class described, the combination with across-rail bearing a slide, horizontal shafts mounted in said rail,

gear connections from one of said shafts to the slide for adjusting thesame, a weight suspended from the second shaft, a short shaft extendinginto the slide, gear connections between the short shaft and weightedshaft, and means for connecting said short shaft with the slide wherebythe latter is supported.

Signed at Bridgeport, in the county of Fairfield and State ofConnecticut, this 23d day of October, A. D. 1905.

EDWARD P. BULLARD, JR.

Witnesses:

F. J. LOWENSTEIN, HARRIs S. BARTLETT

